Fighting Blind

by C. M. Seabrook

  “Get in the back seat and stay low,” I order.

  The gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach grows more insistent the closer we get to our destination.

  Deep breaths, Theo.

  This is the final round. Winner take all. I can’t…won’t lose this fight.

  Dust and pebbles kick up when I turn down the old dirt road. There’s nothing but fields and trees for miles around.

  “I don’t see anyone,” I mumble, pulling the car to a stop.

  “Keep your eyes open.” Moody shifts slightly, his large frame barely fitting in the narrow backseat.

  My phone buzzes, and a new text appears.

  Get out of the car.

  Place the bag on the hood,

  And open it so I can see the money.

  “Fuck.” Where the hell is he? Where’s Mac?

  “What?”

  “He’s got eyes on us. But I don’t see him.”

  “There.” Moody’s voice is gruff. “Hangman’s Cliff.”

  “The road is blocked off.”

  “Exactly.”

  The front headlight of my car suddenly explodes.

  “Get down,” Moody screams.

  I duck when a second shot takes out the driver’s side mirror.

  “Fucking bastard.”

  My phone buzzes.

  Do we have a problem?

  Get out of the car.

  Now!!!

  I text back,

  How do I know she’s alive?

  Need proof.

  What seems like an eternity passes before I finally get another text.

  Look up.

  My heart is beating erratically when I scour the hillside.

  “Shit,” Moody says, pointing up.

  That’s when I see them. Two figures stand on the edge of the cliff, close to the edge of what has to be at least a hundred foot drop. They’re too far away for me to see clearly, but even from this distance I can see the smaller one struggling.

  Mac.

  I reach for the door handle, and Moody grabs my arm.

  “You can’t go out there.”

  “If I don’t she dies.”

  I step out of the car, bracing myself for anything. When no shot is fired, I move to the trunk and pull out the bag, then place it on the hood of the car, opening it so that only the real bills are exposed.

  This isn’t how I expected things to go down. How the hell am I supposed to fight an enemy I can’t even see?

  A new text lights up my screen.

  Tisk, tisk.

  Do you really think I’m that stupid?

  Dump the bag on the hood.

  He knows. Fuck. I run my hand through my hair, pulling at it. My chest aches and I can barely take a breath. Once I dump the contents of the bag, he’ll know I don’t have all the money.

  “What’s going on?” Moody’s voice hisses through the open window.

  “He wants me to dump the bag.”

  “Shit. Get in the car.”

  I shake my head, fingers trembling on the zipper, opening the bag wider, anything to buy time, figure out what I’m going to do. I should have listened to Moody. Called the police.

  I’m going to lose her. I’ve never known the type of fear that rages within me now.

  What happens next drops me. He might as well have put a bullet in my brain, because that’s what it feels like when I watch as the smaller figure is pushed closer to the edge of the cliff. Stefano’s intent is clear.

  He’s going to kill her.

  And there’s nothing I can do about it.

  Chapter 32

  Mackenzie

  “Get off me.” My mom continues to scream and kick as Stef drags her closer to the cliff’s edge.

  His fingers are tangled in her hair, yanking so hard, blood begins to trickle down her forehead.

  “Your boyfriend thinks I’m an idiot.” He chuckles darkly, pointing the rifle at me.

  “Stop. Please,” My mom sobs. She claws at Stef’s face, his arm and the hand that holds her, but he doesn’t even flinch.

  The butt of the rifle comes down hard across her face, splitting her cheek wide open. Her eyes roll, but she doesn’t lose consciousness.

  He drags her to me, dropping his gun just long enough to rip the tape from my mouth.

  “You’re going to make a little choice, Darling.” Spittle flies from his mouth onto my cheek, his rancid breath making me gag. “Since your boyfriend wants to play games, I think we’re going to have to comply.”

  “Fuck you.” With all the force I can muster, I slam my forehead into his face.

  Momentarily stunned, he lets go of my mom and she crumples to the ground in a heap of blood and tears.

  The impact is enough to bust his nose. He wipes the blood away with the back of his hand, then laughs. He grips my arms and pushes me up against the car, one hand groping at me brutally.

  “Oh, we’re going to have a lot of fun when this is all over.”

  My hands are still tied behind my back, and his weight crushes my arms until they feel like they’re going to snap. The tape has loosened slightly, but not enough for me to get free.

  “He brought the money. You said you’d let me go.”

  “You think I’m that stupid to think he got that kind of money in two hours?”

  I look at him, confused. “That’s all the time you gave him.”

  “Yes.” He chuckles, black eyes shining.

  I shake my head. New fear stirring inside of me. “If you didn’t think he could get the money, why did you ask?”

  “I wanted to see how much he was willing to lose to save you.” He brushes my hair behind my ear, then leans towards me and whispers, “Now we’re going to see what you’re willing to sacrifice.”

  When he pulls back, his gaze meeting mine, I know I’ve looked into the pit of hell. There’s pure evil there. Nothing but hate. And I know he has no plans on letting any of us live through this.

  Every move he makes is slow, deliberate, as if he’s been planning this whole scenario for years, and is reveling in every moment of it.

  My mom is still on the ground, sniveling. When he grabs her hair, jerking her up, and pulling her toward the edge, I know what he plans to do.

  “No,” I scream. As much as I hate her right now, she’s still my mom.

  “Who gets to live, Mackenzie?” He tilts his head, grinning, then points the rifle down at the car where Theo is waiting. “Her or him?”

  No, no, no.

  I want to scream. Warn Theo. But I can barely make out his form. He’ll never hear me. And even if he did, I know he won’t leave. Not without me.

  “You can’t do this.”

  “But I can.”

  My mom screams when he twists her hair, taking another step closer to the edge. Stones skitter over the cliff.

  “Thirty seconds, Darling. Or they both die.”

  “Why?” I swallow hard, tears running down my cheek. “I’ll get you the money.”

  His face tightens into a grotesque form, and he sneers, “This isn’t about money. Do you have any fucking clue what I lost because of you?”

  “You’re right. It was because of me. No one else. Let them go and I’ll do whatever you want.”

  “What I want is for you to suffer, like I suffered.” He pushes my mom closer to the edge and she screams. “You took my son from me.”

  His son?

  I shake my head. “I don’t know–”

  “Michael was the one who gave you the drugs that night. It was him who paid for your fuck up. Do you know what they do to someone who loses that kind of money?”

  Oh God. That’s what this has been about?

  “Stefano. Please. Let me go. I love you.” My mom’s words are slurred, her eyes wide, wild with fear.

  He blinks and looks down at her. For a brief moment his expression changes, and there’s a gentleness I’ve never seen before.

  “I’m sorry it had to be this way.” He kisses her hard, then pulls back
, eyes dark once again. “But time’s up.”

  My scream mixes with hers in sickening harmony, as Stefano releases her, and she tumbles over the edge.

  Disbelief is etched on her face when she grasps for air. Then she’s gone.

  My legs are about to give out on me, until I realize what Stef is about to do next. He raises his rifle, pointing down to the blur that is Theo.

  Ignoring the pain that bites into my flesh as it tears, I rip one hand free of the tape that bound them. I don’t think, I just rush at him, reaching for the gun.

  The shot fires, but I don’t have time to see if he’s hit his mark.

  Stefano stumbles backward, taking me with him. We land hard, rolling, his weight crushing me, imbedding rock and sticks into my skin.

  I fight. Clawing at his eyes with my nails, biting, scratching, but he’s twice my size, and when his fingers tighten around my throat, I know it’s over.

  “I could kill you right now. Break your neck. Feel your bones crush between my fingers.”

  “Do it,” I say through clenched teeth. “Get it over with.”

  I’m not afraid of dying. Not in this moment. As long as Theo and Logan are safe. That’s all that matters.

  “No.” His fingers tighten, then release. “A quick death is too good for you. I’m going to do to you what they did to my boy, then I’m going to fuck you until you’re begging me to kill you.”

  I grasp for anything, a stick, rock, something I can use as a weapon. But the minute I feel the cool edge of the blade against my skin, I freeze.

  His eyes glint, reflecting the steel that slowly cuts down my neck.

  “Do you know, when they found him, he had over a hundred puncture wounds on his body?”

  Slowly, with the precision of a surgeon, he sinks the blade deep, just below my collarbone. I open my mouth to scream, choking on a sob, when he pulls the blade out, sharp and quick.

  “The key is knowing where not to cut. Keeping the wounds superficial. So the victim feels every slice, every jab, like it’s the first.”

  This time the blade cuts just below my right breast, and he’s right, the shooting pain is just as bad as the first cut.

  I can’t breathe. Can’t catch my breath. All I can do is wait for the next cut.

  Chapter 33

  Theo

  I watch in horror as Mac’s limp body falls from the cliff like a rag doll, causing a large plume of dust when it hits the bottom. Too stunned to move, I barely flinch when a shot fires, the bullet just grazing my shoulder.

  Moody is screaming at me, ordering me to get in the car. To drive. To get the hell out of there. But I’m paralyzed. This can’t be happening. It can’t end like this. She can’t be gone.

  I’m shoved into the car, the door slamming on me when I’m finally in. Everything is moving at warp speed, yet simultaneously in slow motion. I blink and Moody is beside me, his fingers whitening around the steering wheel.

  “She’s dead.” I hear the words, over and over, until I realize they’re coming from me.

  “We don’t know it was her,” Moody says, his face a mask of calm, but I see the fear behind his eyes, the knowledge that we’re too late.

  I shake my head. He killed her. He fucking killed her.

  “Drive.” The word is almost a whisper, but I know Moody hears me.

  “We need to call the cops.” He pulls out his cell and dials.

  “Either start the car, or get the hell out. I’m going after the son-of-a-bitch with or without you.”

  He starts the ignition, then floors the gas pedal. The duffle bag flies off the hood, bills and newspaper flutter like confetti in the wind.

  We hit the barricade, and Moody goes through it, full speed. Wood splinters, plastic snaps, metal groans. I’m pretty sure the back left tire is blown, but he drives through it, up the narrow road, at the same time giving the emergency operator the details of our location.

  “There’s at least one casualty,” he says, voice steady.

  I sometimes forget that he used to be a marine. But I see it now. Hear it in his tone.

  I’m not prepared for what we find at the top of the hill.

  Mackenzie.

  She’s on the ground in a pool of blood, her face bruised, skin chalk white, but the slight rise and fall of her chest tells me she’s alive.

  Moody slams on the breaks. I’m out of the car before it comes to a complete stop.

  “Stay where you are.” Stefano steps from behind his car, rifle pointed at me. His shirt is soaked in what I can only imagine is Mac’s blood, but there are fresh scratches on his face and arms where she must have tried to fight him off. “I’m so glad you could join us.”

  Mac whimpers. Her lashes flutter, eyes heavy from the loss of blood. She opens her mouth to say something, but her eyes close again as if she doesn’t have the strength.

  I move closer, not caring that the gun is trained on my chest. I need to get to Mac. Stop the bleeding.

  “I said, don’t move.” He fires a shot inches from my feet. “We’re going to do this my way.”

  I’m close enough now to see some of Mac’s wounds. Her shirt has been sliced open, exposing her stomach and bra. Multiple wounds weep with blood. There’s at least ten on her chest and abdomen, and those are only the ones I can see.

  Oh God.

  With the toe of his boot, Stefano kicks Mac in the leg. “Wake up, Darling. I want you to be conscious when I kill your little boyfriend.”

  Where the hell is Moody?

  “Theo,” Mac moans, eyes barely able to focus on me.

  “I’m here.” I lock gazes with her. “It’s going to be all right.”

  Stefano’s laughter echoes around us, then he raises the rifle.

  There’s a click, then the sonic boom of a shot firing. I feel it in my chest, in every limb of my body.

  The rifle drops from Stefano’s hand. His eyes are wide, and there’s a second when I see shock, then fear cross his expression. The dark hole in the center of his forehead slowly starts to trickle blood, like a tear dripping down his nose, over his mouth.

  His body hits the ground with a loud thud.

  I rush to Mac’s side, pulling my t-shirt over my head and using it to help stop the flow of blood.

  “Took you long enough,” I growl out, when Moody drops to his knees beside me.

  There are sirens in the distance, but they’re still far away, and already she’s lost too much blood.

  “Keep talking to her,” Moody says, pulling his own shirt over his head and tucking it under her head. “I’m going to make sure the emergency crew know where we are.” He places a hand on my shoulder when he stands. “She’s going to be okay. She’s a fighter.”

  I nod, and he takes off down the hill.

  “Mackenzie.” I keep pressure on the worst of her wounds. “I need you to wake up. Talk to me.”

  Her face is a scary shade of gray, her lips purplish-blue.

  “Come on, Mac. Fight for me.”

  “Theo.”

  “I’m here.” I lean down, brushing my mouth against hers briefly. “I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner.”

  “My mom.”

  The body. It makes sense now. Shit.

  I press my forehead to hers, willing my strength to keep her alive.

  “I’m so cold.”

  “You’ve lost a lot of blood. But the ambulance is almost here. Just hold on.”

  “I love you.” She licks her lips, trying hard to focus on me. “I love you.”

  The words are laced with regret.

  “No.” I shake my head, gritting my teeth. “Don’t do that. You don’t get to say goodbye. You stay with me. Understand?”

  She gives a small nod, but her eyes start to shut.

  “Mac. Mackenzie.” I yell at her, feeling her heartrate slow. “Goddamn it, Mac. Fight.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “No. Don’t you leave me. I’m not finished loving you. Understand me?”

  “Theo.”
There’s real fear in her eyes.

  Damn it. She has to live. I can’t lose her. Not now. Not when we haven’t even begun our life together.

  The sirens are on us. Doors slam. People are yelling. There’s a team of people surrounding us, pushing me out of the way. I start to fight them, but Moody holds me back.

  “Let them help her.”

  I stand there, cold numb, as they work on her, moving her onto a stretcher.

  When they lift her into the ambulance, I start to follow.

  “Sir, you can’t be in here.” One of the paramedics stops me.

  “I’m not leaving her.”

  Alarms start to go off.

  “She’s crashing,” the paramedic working on Mac yells.

  Moody pulls me back and the doors shut. I can’t do anything but watch as the sirens start to wail and the ambulance disappears down the hill.

  Chapter 34

  Mackenzie

  Cold. That’s what death feels like. Cold. Dark. Lonely.

  “Fight, Mackenzie.”

  I hear Theo’s voice, demanding I wake up. But as hard as I try, I just keep sinking deeper, drifting further away.

  At least the pain has stopped.

  “BP’s dropping.”

  “She’s crashing.”

  “Fight, Mackenzie.”

  I’m not a fighter. I never have been. If there’s a choice between running and fighting, I’ll always choose option A.

  It’s easier.

  Less painful.

  But…Theo. Logan.

  I promised I wouldn’t run again.

  This isn’t running, it’s dying.

  A shock rips through my body, so intense it feels like every muscle convulses at the same time.

  Pain. More than I can handle. It holds me in a viselike grip. Too hard, too tight. But at least it’s something. As long as there’s pain, I know I’m alive.

  I fight. Harder than I’ve ever fought before. I fight for Theo. For Logan. For our future.